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[Verse 2]
In a young summer's youth, I stole her away
From her mother and sister, though close did they stay
Each one of them suffering from the failures of their day
With strings of guilt they tried hard to guide us

[Verse 3]
Of the two sisters, I loved the young
With sensitive instincts, she was the creative one
The constant scrapegoat, she was easily undone
By the jealousy of others around her

[Verse 4]
For her parasite sister, I had no respect
Bound by her boredom, her pride to protect
Countless visions of the other she'd reflect
As a crutch for her scenes and her society

[Verse 5]
Myself, for what I did, I cannot be excused
The changes I was going through can't even be used
For the lies that I told her in hope not to lose
The could-be dream-lover of my lifetime

[Verse 6]
With unseen consciousness, I possessed in my grip
A magnificent mantelpiece, though its heart being chipped
Noticing not that I'd already slipped
To a sin of love's false security

What is this?

The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.

The song recounts the circumstances surrounding the disintegration of Dylan’s relationship with Suze Rotolo. Dylan details the conflicts between himself, and Rotolo’s mother, Mary Rotolo, and her sister Carla Rotolo